1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to a cord winder for a vacuum cleaner which can be easily operated, and which requires less space, thereby reducing the volume of the vacuum cleaner.
2. Prior Arts
Vacuum cleaner assemblies are used in a wide variety of applications and environments. In general, a vacuum cleaner is powered by a DC current power supplied through a battery accommodated in the vacuum cleaner or by an AC power source via an AC plug outlet in the wall of a building, house or other like structure. Therefore, it is usually necessary to use a power cord which is either fixedly or releasably coupled to the vacuum cleaner to conduct AC power to the vacuum cleaner.
When a vacuum cleaner is not in use, the power cord, if it is fixedly secured to the cleaner, must typically be wound upon a portion of the cleaner or otherwise wound up to prevent it from being damaged or severed from the vacuum cleaner. Thus, it is usually necessary after each use of the vacuum cleaner assembly to wind up the power cord associated therewith and unwind it the next time the assembly is used. The need to manually wind and unwind the power cord with each use of a vacuum cleaner can detract from the convenience from using the cleaner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,768 issued to Kasper et al. discloses a cord winder for a vacuum cleaner which enables a power cord associated with the cleaner to be stored within the cleaner when it is not in use and quickly and easily removed therefrom when it is to be used. Kasper et al.'s cord winder comprises a spool upon which a power cord is wound and which is disposed coaxially with a driving motor in a cylindrical housing, a spring associated with the spool to rotate the spool in a direction operable to retract the power cord coupled thereto when the power cord has been at least partially unwound from the spool, and a brake assembly for releasably maintaining the spool in a desired position once at least a portion of the power cord has been unwound from the spool.
The brake assembly comprises a pair of Y-shaped frame members, a pair of pivot posts or pivotally supporting the Y-shaped frame members at the center thereof, a manually depressible tab member, a rubber brake wheel, and coil spring for applying a biasing force to the rubber brake wheel. A user can wind the power cord on the spool or releasably maintain the spool in a desired position once at least a portion of the power cord has been unwound from the spool by handling the tab member.
However, Kasper et al.'s cord winder is proper for a cord winder in which a spool is disposed coaxially with a driving motor in a cylindrical housing, but not for the extensively used commercial canister-type vacuum cleaner.
In the meantime, FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional cord winder 10 which is usually installed in a canister 20 of a canister-type vacuum cleaner as shown in FIG. 1. Cord winder 10 has a construction similar to that of Kasper et al.'s. Cord winder 10 has a reel 32 and L-shaped lever 12 installed in a reel chamber 30 defined in canister 20. A compression coil spring 18 is disposed between L-shaped lever 12 and the ceiling of reel chamber 30, so as to apply a clockwise biasing force to L-shaped lever 12. L-shaped lever 12 is pivotal about a hinge pin 16 by a button 22 disposed above and being in contact with one end of L-shaped lever 12.
A friction strip 34 is attached on the rear wall of reel chamber 30, and a stopper wheel 14 is mounted on the other end of L-shaped lever 12. Stopper lever 12 is located between friction strip 14 and the periphery of reel 30. Friction strip 34 has a vertical surface 34a and an inclined surface 34b as shown in FIG. 5. Meanwhile, a torsion spring member (not shown) is installed in reel 32 so as to apply a clockwise biasing force thereto.
When a user pulls out a power cord 24 out of canister 20, reel 32 rotates counter-clockwise, and accordingly stopper wheel 14 rotates clockwise while rolling up along inclined surface 34b . Therefore, power cord 24 is pulled out smoothly.
When the user presses button 22, L-shaped lever 12 pivots counter-clockwise against the clockwise biasing force of compression coil spring 18. In this case, stopper wheel 14 rolls up along inclined surface 34b , thereby releasing the close contact between stopper wheel 14 and the periphery of reel 32. Accordingly, reel 32 rotates clockwise by the biasing force of the torsion spring member therein, thereby winding power cord 24 thereon.
When the user stops pressing button 22, L-shaped lever 12 pivots clockwise again by the biasing force of compression coil spring 18, and thereby stopper wheel 14 comes into close contact with the periphery of reel 30 again. Then, the clockwise rotation of reel 30 is stopped, and power cord 24 is releasably maintained at that position.
However, conventional cord winder 10 having the above construction is inconvenient to use since button 22 must be located in the middle of canister 20, and it has a disadvantage in its volume since L-shaped lever 12 takes up a relatively large space in reel chamber 30.